Michael Lev: Should we still care about Jordan McCloud, RichRod, other ex-Cats? It depends

Two of the best stories in college football this season feature former Arizona Wildcats in prominent roles, and there’s a scenario — albeit far-fetched — where their worlds could collide.

James Madison, quarterbacked by former Wildcat Jordan McCloud, is 8-0 and ranked 23rd in the AP Top 25. Jacksonville State, coached by Rich Rodriguez (and featuring Jamarye Joiner), is 7-2 in its first year in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Because both schools are still within the two-year transition period from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), they aren’t eligible for postseason play. It’s an outdated, nonsensical rule, but it is what it is.

The Dukes and/or Gamecocks could backdoor their way into bowl berths if there aren’t enough 6-6 or better teams to fill all the slots. They also could take advantage of an NCAA loophole and play against each other in Hawaii at the end of the regular season.

Would that matchup — featuring several key characters from UA football’s recent past — interest you?

If you’re still reading this column, it probably would. If you’re not, it likely wouldn’t.

James Madison vs. Jacksonville State, however implausible, looms as a referendum on fandom in the new age of college sports. How far does your loyalty go? How deep does your curiosity run?

The transfer portal has greatly expanded the pool of ex-Wildcats, ex-Sun Devils and ex-everything else. Student-athletes have more freedom of movement than ever before, and they’re taking advantage of it with increasing frequency. James Madison is McCloud’s third school. One-time USC quarterback JT Daniels is playing for his fourth school.

(Daniels’ college career began at USC in 2018. He’s now at Rice. In between, he played for Georgia and West Virginia. He’s spent as much time studying Google Maps as the playbook.)

Fans and even media take a measure of pride in the accomplishments of alumni. The UA Alumni Association has an initiative called “Wildcat For Life.” It’s pretty self-explanatory.

But college careers aren’t as tidy as they used to be. For instance, Roy Lopez Jr. transferred to Arizona in 2020 and played just five games as a Wildcat during that pandemic-shortened season. He played 39 games for New Mexico State. Yet when he was selected in the ’21 NFL Draft, the graphic said, “Roy Lopez Jr., DT, Arizona.”

Is Lopez more of a Wildcat — For Life or otherwise — than Tony Fields II? Fields also transferred before the 2020 season — because he feared there wouldn’t be one in the Pac-12. He played nine games for West Virginia that year before being drafted in the spring of ’21. He played 37 games for Arizona. To me, he’s more of a Wildcat than a Mountaineer. Yet he joined the Cleveland Browns as “Tony Fields II, LB, West Virginia.”

Beyond who gets credit for draft picks, the bigger question is how much we should care about these ex-Wildcats/Wildcats for Life (Or Not) once they’ve left. It’s an especially important matter in the journalism business because part of our mission is to produce content that interests our audience — i.e., you.

Do you still care about McCloud? Most of the feedback I saw on X/Twitter when someone suggested I write about him implied that you do. That has everything to do with his comportment while here and the circumstances of his departure.

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McCloud didn’t leave Arizona because he thought the grass was greener elsewhere. He didn’t leave for some lucrative NIL deal. He left because he wanted to play, and he wasn’t getting that opportunity here.

If you recall, McCloud ascended to the starting job about a month into the 2021 season. Then he broke his leg. By the following spring, Arizona had added Jayden de Laura and Noah Fifita. McCloud was stuck.

He left the program during the ’22 season and found a home at James Madison, where he’s thriving. McCloud ranked in the top 20 nationally in touchdown passes (18) and efficiency rating (162.14) entering this week.

I never heard a bad word about McCloud during his time here. He seemed like a nice, humble kid. No one could fault him for transferring. His accomplishments post-Arizona are worth celebrating.

Two of the three players who transferred from Arizona to USC this year fit the Fields profile in terms of games played. Kyon Barrs and Christian Roland-Wallace will finish their careers with about three times as many appearances as Wildcats than as Trojans.

But transferring to a conference rival — without the looming threat of the season being canceled — is a different deal. It was surely a dream come true for Barrs and Roland-Wallace, two Southern California kids, to play for USC. But if you wanted to kick them out of the Wildcat For Life Club, with no chance to be reinstated, I wouldn’t blame you.

Of course, the same fanbase that has no use for Barrs, Roland-Wallace and Dorian Singer anymore has welcomed multiple players from current Pac-12 schools with open arms. As Jerry Seinfeld famously noted about sports fandom: “You’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it.”

Rodriguez’s departure was more complicated. He was fired after the 2017 season mostly for off-field reasons. Best I can tell, UA fans had mixed feelings about his time here.

But Rodriguez had plenty of success. He led Arizona to five bowl appearances in six seasons; the Wildcats haven’t made one since.

And it isn’t as if Rodriguez wanted to leave. This was not a Jay Johnson situation.

I don’t get the sense that fans are wistful for the RichRod days, especially since Jedd Fisch has the program pointed in the right direction. But Rodriguez remains a compelling figure, and it would be absolutely fascinating if he ended up back at West Virginia, should the WVU administration decide to move on from Neal Brown.

That doesn’t seem likely at the moment as the Mountaineers are 5-3. But the craziness of the college football coaching carousel — the transfer portal’s wild cousin — never should be underestimated. Every cycle has a surprise or several.

RichRod vs. Arizona in Tucson for the Wildcats’ inaugural Big 12 game? Who says no?